Pandemic Primary Source Sets

How do information and misinformation spread during a pandemic?

Source 1 - Document

Saturday, Oct 12, 1918

Dear Mother: –

I’m in Louisville again this week-end and am staying at the YMCA for the night. I have a nice clean room all to myself and it does seem good to be quiet and rest for a while. I was lucky to get a pass this week and for only 10% of the company were allowed to go. I had a good excuse, tho– to get my hat reblocked. The other day the captain said it was the worst that he ever saw so he was glad enough to let me come to town to have it fixed. It really looks like new now. I had a good supper when I got here. It was nearly 5 before I left camp. We worked all day–three hours of exams this morning, then cleaning up the barrack and moving some materiel down on the drill field. I found out I could go on pass at 3 o’clock but had to stay and make some mechanical drawings of parts of the 3 in. gun which took me a good hour.

I called up the Munn’s tonight and am going out there to dinner tomorrow. Isn’t it dandy of them to be so nice to me. The churches are all closed tomorrow on account of the flu. It is quite bad in the city as well as at camp. We still have our two medical inspections daily. There ae not many new cases in our own battery just now. They have taken a whole section of barracks for a temporary hospital and are treating light cases there. The fellow named Cobb from Portland Oregon whom I told you about in one of my letters died last week with it. He was a dandy fellow– was married and had a little family – two children I think. It’s nice you can have Lib home for a few days. Your telling about getting up that dandy supper for them made me decidedly homesick for we eat in the worst kind of way just now. So many cooks are sick we have joined three batteries (500 men) together for mess. We have to use our old mess kits and stand in line a long time. The food is family good– when you get it, but you only get about half enough. Did I tell you I had gained 8 lbs since I came here?

That doesn’t speak as if I were starving to death, does it? Where we have so little time to ourselves at noon, it makes it hard to spend so much time in line. Often we go over for mess at 11:45– just as soon as we are back from drill and don’t get there till 12:15 – ten minutes before we are due to fall in again. These precious 10 min. also have to be spent in shining shoes for we have an inspection the first thing after dinner.

There is an extra just out that the gunmans have accepted Wilson’s terms but I don’t believe it. I hope the war wont be settled that way but will be decided on the battle front. The fellows here are already worrying for fear they wont get their commissions. That is the least of my troubles – if war will only end, I don’t care a rap about a commission.

Reveille has been changed from 5:30 to 5:45 fifteen more minutes to sleep in the morning now. So far the two mornings the new rule has been enforce, I have been up at 5:15 to shave before reveille.

I had a dandy box of chocolates from Connie this week. I sure did enjoy them for anything sweet is a novelty around camp. The Flu makes it impossible to get to a canteen to buy even a cake of sweet chocolate.

One of the fellows near me had some jelly sent him this week and another fellow some crackers. A crowd of 5 or 6 of us had a feed on them the other night which was lots of fun. It seemed just like college once more.

Well it is more than bedtime and since I’m tired out with the week’s work I believe I’ll say good–night to all my dear family and run up-stairs to bed. Here’s a kiss for you, my dear. X

Love to all,
Sum.

P.S. George St. John is in the same Battery with me still. He lets me read his Express once in a while when it comes – 3 days late.
S –

Source 2 - Document

Source 3 - Image

Source 4 - Document

Pandemic Primary Source Sets developed in collaboration between the Maine Historical Society, Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum.

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